mst3kfandomcom-20200215-history
MST3K 908 - The Touch of Satan
The Movie Synopsis Jodie Lee Thompson (Michael Berry) is taking a trip to San Francisco from Austin, TX. Stopping at a small town for some supplies, the gas station attendant informs Jodie that there's a killer on the loose, and that a local farmer was recently murdered. Jodie drives off, and eventually takes a detour through an area where some trees and a small pond are. While having some food, he is surprised to meet a young woman. She tells him that her name is Melissa Strickland (Emby Mellay). Melissa eventually invites Jodie back to her family's walnut farm, where he meets her parents Luther (Lee Amber) and Molly (Yvonne Winslow). After dinner, Jodie prepares to go to sleep, when he is shocked when a wrinkled old woman with white hair and a badly scarred face appears in his room for a few moments. Jodie tells Melissa, who claims that he saw her Great-Grandmother, Lucinda. When Jodie inquires about her face, she explains that Lucinda was badly-burned as a young girl. The next day, Jodie and Melissa go into town for some supplies. Going into one store, Jodie is surprised that a lot of people are going out of their way to avoid Melissa. Melissa explains that this is because the townspeople say that she is a witch. Jodie finds this laughable and hard to believe. On the drive back to the farm, Melissa offers to show Jodie where she does her witchcraft from. Going to a small shed, the two talk over what Melissa's witch powers are, when Luther comes by. He doesn't give much information, but Melissa suspects that Lucinda has gotten out of the house again. Feeling something is wrong, Melissa asks Jodie to take her back to the house. The two arrive in time to see Lucinda having killed a sheriff's deputy, with Luther and Molly trying to restrain her. Melissa manages to calm Lucinda, and has Molly take her inside. Luther shocks Jodie when he takes the keys from his car, and puts Jodie in the barn, handcuffing him to a pipe. As he is in the barn, Jodie's thoughts return to the gas station attendant who claimed that there was a killer in the area who had killed a farmer recently, and Jodie now feels that Lucinda is the killer. Melissa comes into the barn to talk to Jodie, who insists that they should have turned Lucinda into the police some time ago. Melissa claims she can't do that, and she has to take care of the family, claiming they are cursed. Jodie refuses to believe this as well. Later that evening, Jodie is allowed dinner and goes to his room in the house. Melissa goes to the shed, and through her powers, coaxes Jodie to dream a certain dream: In it, Melissa is a young woman, in the 19th century. She is seated with her sister Lucinda and their parents reading a Bible, when some townspeople come carrying torches, and chanting 'burn the witch!' The father goes out to see the villagers who claim that a plague has struck their village, but left the Strickland family without any problems. The villagers then say that this is due to Lucinda being a witch, and soon after drag her from the house and burn her on a pyre. Melissa pleads for anyone to help her, when a strange wind is heard, and a voice asks Melissa if she will accept the devil in exchange for the saving of her sister. Melissa agrees, and is able to put out the fire. She then lays curses upon the villagers who run off. Melissa is then seen untying her sister who has been badly burned. Jodie then goes to the shed where he finds Melissa. Through discussion, Melissa explains that she sold her soul to the devil in exchange for saving her sister's life. This resulted in her staying youthful-looking for 127 years, but due to the deal, Lucinda aged and goes through her violent attacks. Even with everything he is told, Jodie still claims that he can't believe it all, but does love Melissa. Suddenly, Lucinda appears at the door, intending to kill Jodie. Melissa then causes her sister to catch fire, and she and Jodie escape from the shed before it burns to the ground. The next day, Jodie is given the chance to leave. He promises Luther he will not tell what he saw, but still refuses to believe what Melissa said was true. Jodie drives off a ways, but then has second thoughts, and turns back. Heading back to the pond and forested area, he finds Melissa waiting there. Jodie tells her that he still loves her, even if the devil is inside her soul. They then make love, and Melissa tells Jodie that his love has set her free. However, this comes with a price: having freed Melissa, she has now begun to age to what she really is, and will now die. Jodie then calls upon the devil, and gives his soul for Melissa, returning her to her youthful form, and now sharing in the curse that has fallen over the Strickland family.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066476/plotsummary Information *Robert Easton, who played the leader of the angry mob in the flashback, had earlier appeared as a cantankerous redneck in ''The Giant Spider Invasion''. *Despite popular belief, the film was not directed by Tom Laughlin, who was often credited under the pseudonym Don Henderson. The director was actually Donald Henderson, who was credited as Don Henderson. *Satan's "I am a friend and companion of the night..." speech is taken from Howard Phillips Lovecraft's short story "The Horror At Red Hook." *On the opening title card and closing credits, the text has stock footage of flames matted into it. *When Satan tempts a character, the corresponding actor's voice beckons them to join him. *The film's Italian title was "L'Ossessa: i raccapriccianti delitti di Monroe Park", which translates as "The Obsession: The Horrific Crimes of Monroe Park." The film has no scenes set in Monroe Park. *Members of the film's crew play the villagers who try to burn Lucinda. *One of the film's alternate release titles was "Pitchfork." The Episode Host Segments Prologue: Tom and Crow are out caroling for Wassail, with severe financial penalties if Mike is unable to deliver said Wassail. Segment One: Mike finds a loophole in the song in that it doesn't specify the condition of the Wassail, but their antics are interrupted when they learn that Pearl has gone on vacation and hired Steffi the babysitter to look after things. She's not quite prepared for the strangeness and treats everybody like small children much to torment of Bobo and Brian. Segment Two: A very sweaty Mike learns that walnut ranching is harder than one would expect, while Tom has taken up pecan farming with much better results. ' as Steffi']] Segment Three: Yet again, Crow is influenced by the movie and believes he is a witch, a fact borne out of his ability to survive the test of being buried under rocks. Acting as a voice of reason, Mike points out his survival is due to his nature as a robot, but ends up making things worse when he suggests that Crow could just as easily be a frog. Segment Four: Tom's Grandma attempts to pitchfork Mike. Tom points out that he can distinguish between his grandmothers by their desire to commit murder. Closing (Segment Five): Crow believes that he has sold his soul to Satan and will soon gain unworldly powers, but Mike discovers a typo - Crow has instead sold his soul to "Stan", a CPA (or Certified Public Accountant). Down in Castle Forrester, Steffi attempts to read Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, but Brian is a little overtired and Bobo still insists on being a bad dog. Stinger: Melissa advises Jody that "This is where the fish lives". Trivia * Like all the R-rated films shown on the show, it was edited for time and for content, including the scene where Lucinda stabs the policeman in the neck and the end sequence where "Grandma" goes partially topless. * Mary Jo Pehl was absent from this episode as she was traveling to L.A. to shoot segments featuring film critic Leonard Maltin for the next episode of MST3K. Callbacks * "Stay!" (The Undead) * Upon realizing the leader of the Angry Mob is played by the same actor who played the back brace-wearing Dan Kester in The Giant Spider Invasion, Servo lets out an enthusiastic, "You've been hittin' the BOOZE again!" * During the opening credits, Mike puts Crow on "Clu Gulager alert", referencing the actor from ''Master Ninja I'' and San Francisco International. Goofs * Crow cracks a joke as the shack burns in the movie, and his mouth continues to move for a moment after he finishes talking. Guest Stars * Steffi: Beez McKeever * Stan Johnson: Paul Chaplin (voice) Unusual Credits: 'The babysitter hits Bobo with a newspaper while he tries to explain he wasn't barking. Running Jokes * The many allusions to Satan/The Devil; including other entities, symbols and titles representing him. ** Mike: "''There he goes. So long foul deceiver." ** '''Crow:' '"Bon voyage odious spinner of lies!" ** Tom: "Hasta luego Maverick driving Kludde!" * Various jokes about Jody's car being a Maverick, which was fairly new around the time this movie was made. * Melissa and her family growing walnuts on their farm, which is referred to as a ranch in-film, and how it's played up like running a livestock ranch. * Fish-related riffs made in response to Melissa's quizzical line: "This is where the fish lives!" * The many references to the 1970's. ** Mike: "Oh-ho what with all these gas crises and Watergates I needed a good laugh." ** Tom: "This looks like a nice private place to practice streaking." ** Tom:' '"Dum dee dum dee dum...You know I was just thinking....That Gerald Ford is rather clumsy." ** Crow: "Well Keep on trucking I guess! Guess you'll do your thing and I'll do mine. Yep, Whip Inflation Now!" ** Mike: "You catch Kotter last night?" Quotes & References *Wassail mentions in first and second host segments. Wassail is a kind of hot, mulled cider. *"Grandma Kramer!" Kramer was a character on the TV show Seinfeld, who had a propensity for bursting into his neighbor's apartment unannounced. * "The Last Days of Edgar Winter." Edgar Winter is a rock musician known for his pale complexion and long platinum-blond hair. * "With Screwtape on kettle drum! Wormwood on harpsichord!" Screwtape and Wormwood are two demonic beings from C.S. Lewis' novelette "The Screwtape Letters". * "OK, Crow, I'm putting you on Clu Gulager alert." Clu Gulager is an actor who appeared in several movies and TV shows, whose career reached its peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mike's joke is derived from the film's period-specific look. *''"What do you get when you fall from grace? You only get cast into perdition!.'"'' Tom is parodying 'I Will Never Fall in Love Again', a song composed by Burt Bacharach and covered by various artists like Dionne Warwick and Elvis Costello. * "Hasta luego Maverick driving Kludde!" "Yeah...uh...Kludde?" "Yeah! It's Scottish....I looked it up." A Kludde is a mythical creature that has a wolf-like appearance and often attacks children. While it is sometimes used as an allusion to the Devil, the myth originated from Belgian and Dutch folklore rather than Scottish. *''"He forgot to give me my Roman Gabriel cocktail glass!"'' Roman Gabriel was an NFL Quarterback from 1962-1977. He was famous for being the first Asian-American to start as a quarterback. *''"I'm gonna get out my guitar and practice 'Sister Golden Hair.'"'' "Sister Golden Hair" is one of America's best known songs. *''"Wow, I'm the first one at the Rainbow Gathering!"'' The Rainbow Gathering is a gathering of "hippies" in an outdoor environment. Sort of like Burning Man, only without the fees or desert locale. *''"Thank you, Lurch!"'' Mike is referring to the overture being played as somewhat similar to the theme of The Addams Family. Lurch is the family's uncommonly tall butler. *''"But the trees can't help their feeling, if they like the way they're made..."'' Mike is misquoting the Rush song "The Trees". * "Hello, Jodie." "Or should I call you Buffy?"..."How's Uncle Bill?" Crow is referencing to Buffy Davis and her custodial Uncle Bill, both characters from the '60s/'70s CBS TV sitcom Family Affair. Jody is also the name of Buffy's twin brother on the show. *"You know, you're pretty?" "In a frumpy, Rhoda sort of way." Rhoda refers to Rhoda Morgenstern who was a character on the popular 1970s TV show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and later the spin-off ''Rhoda''. Rhoda was the frumpy best friend of the lead character, Mary. *"You like me too don't you?" "In a Ron Palillo sort of way, sure." Ron Palillo played the character Horshack on the sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. *"Herbert von Karajan is upset." Reference to the popular conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1955 to 1989. *''"Hey! Beelzebub! Kali! And Lucifer!"'' Jodie glances at three pictures hanging over his bed in which Crow names off three separate entities alluding to Satan. Beelzebub was originally a deity under the name Ba'al whose name meant "Lord of the Flies." Lucifer is another such deity with his name meaning "the morning star." Both names are used to describe The Devil. Kali on the other hand is separate from all this, as she is a Hindu deity representing death and destruction. *''"They've got a signed copy of the Necromonicon sic!"'' The Necronomicon is a fictitious book of black magic originating in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. *''"Excuse me, I think I left a Sustacal back in the corner there."'' Sustacal is a supplementary drink meant to help the elderly treat malnutrition. * "Who is it?" "S'me!" "Is Captain Hook there?" The way Jodie quickly says "It's me" sounds similar to that of Mr. Smee, who was either Captain Hook's first mate or boatswain in the various versions of Peter Pan. * "Aw, now a withered old Billy Zane is gonna come in and give her a withered old Coeur de la Mer." Referring to the scene from the James Cameron film Titanic where Caledon Hockley (played by Billy Zane) puts the necklace with the jewel Coeur de La Mer around the neck of his fiance' Rose DeWitt Bukater (played by Kate Winslet). The shot of Lucinda sitting at a mirror bears some resemblance to the shot of Rose receiving the necklace. *''"She turned into Cecilia Bartoli."'' Cecilia Bartoli is an Italian opera singer. *''"You know, if she had two of these, she'd be Melissa 'Two-Sheds' Strickland." "Aww, now she's Melissa 'No-Sheds' Strickland."'' A reference to a skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus in which an interviewer obsesses over whether or not a famous composer nicknamed "Arthur 'Two-Sheds' Jackson" actually owns two sheds. *''"This is where the fish lives."'' A non-sequitur spoken by Melissa while on her first "date" with Jodie, repeated often for the duration of the episode. *''"I haven't understood anything since McKinley went down."'' A reference to the William McKinley Assassination of 1901. William McKinley was the 25th president of the United States. *"She's going to buy a whole bunch of Proctor and Gamble products." P&G was the subject of an urban legend alleging promotion of Satanism.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proctor_and_Gamble#Logo_controversy *"You been hittin' the booze?" Mr. Keitel, leader of the lynch mob which attempts to kill Lucilla, is played by Robert Easton, who starred in The Giant Spider Invasion, who uttered that line to his wife at one point in the film. *''"Hold on, I'm getting a call from Margot Adler."'' Margot Adler is an NPR commentator and Wiccan priestess; in 1979 she authored 'Drawing Down The Moon', a guide to neopagan philosophy. *''"It's that witchcraft, wicked witchcraft."'' A reference to a song made famous by Frank Sinatra called "Witchcraft". *''"She gives him 15.55 just so she can get 6.66 back in change!" "Hey! The odometer is all 6's!"'' Referring to the 'Mark of the Beast' (666) which signals the coming of the antichrist. (AKA The Devil's return.) Memorable Quotes : farmer is walking his cow into a barn. : Farmer: Mercy, if... if you'd come in like the rest of them... : Servo: Mercy? : Farmer: ...there wouldn't be all this… this chasing. : Mike Mercy: Yeah, milk me. : farmer is repeatedly stabbed with a pitchfork. : Mike: The American Gothic people take revenge. : . . . : to table of people laughing : Crow: if one of them were telling the last scene like a story And then he died! : laugh : very ancient, wrinkled woman with long hair (Lucinda) barges through the kitchen door and falls to the floor. : Servo: Grandma Kramer! : Mike: A kabuki actor's been hit! : . . . : Luther: What happened? What have you done? : Servo Lucinda: I stayed in the tanning booth for a whole decade! : Servo: Emby Mellay? That's not a name, it's a bad Scrabble hand. : chats with a gas station attendant, a small-town oddball cliché on two feet. : Attendant: That'll be six dollars, even. : Crow Attendant: Oh, and an extra dollar for the aliens in my head. : . . . : Attendant: See, the way I got it figured, this job was done by one of them fromokaidal maniacs, and we ain't got none of them around here. : . . . : Jody: Yeah, well, nobody needs a fromokaidal maniac hanging around. : drives off. : Servo Attendant: Is that right? I should check my dictionotomy. : a shot of the forest : Mike: singing But the trees can't hide their feelings if they like the way they're made... : Crow: stern Mike, stop it now. : Mike: ...Sorry. : Jody: This your pond? : pause : Crow Jody: You can take your time, it's a tough question. : Melissa: It belongs to my father. : Jody: Oh, does your father mind if people skip rocks across his pond? : Servo Melissa: As long as you don't hit his favorite frog. : ''pause : Melissa: I don't think he's mentioned it before. That your car? : Jody: Yeah. : Servo Melissa: Mind if I skip rocks across it? : catches up to Melissa, who stares out over the creek. : Melissa: This is where the fish lives. : and the Bots snicker loudly : Jody: Why did you run? : Servo Melissa: 'Cuz this is where the fish lives. : Melissa: I felt like it. I really wanted to fly, but I couldn't do that, so I ran. : pause. : Mike Jody: You're kind of an idiot, aren't you? : and Melissa draw together in a serious kiss. : Crow Jody: This is where my tongue lives. : police car passes the car Jody is driving : Mike Barney Fife: I'm telling you, Andy, there was a demon in the car! : the general store, Melissa's total comes to $8.89 : Crow: She gives him $15.55 just so she can get $6.66 back in change. : Jody's 19th-century dream, a mob of townspeople gathers with torches and pitchforks, chanting "Burn the witch!" : Mike townsfolk: Oh, and "go Packers" too, but mostly burn the witch. : . . . : Strickland is reading from the Bible (Job) to his family. : Strickland: "The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days..." : Servo Strickland: ...said Madeleine. : Strickland: "...and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor..." : Crow Strickland: Tsch. Bunch of crap. : Strickland: "A dreadful sound is in his ears." : Mike Strickland: It's Paula Cole, I think. : Strickland: "In prosperity, the destroyer shall come upon him." : sees Lucinda fidgeting. : Strickland: What is it, child? : Young Lucinda: I thought I heard something. : Strickland: Pay attention to the word of God. : Servo Strickland: For He loves you, and He may KILL you if you don't. : Strickland: "Yeah..." : Crow Strickland: "...team!" : Strickland: "...the light of the wicked shall be put out..." : Mike Strickland: "...by ten-thirty…" : Strickland: "...and the spark of his fire shall not shine." : Servo Daughter: Just take the old-fashioned photo, Dad! : . . . : mob of townspeople approaches the house, still chanting "Burn the witch!" : Mrs. Strickland: What is it, David? : Crow: It's people saying "Burn the witch". Are you deaf? : Young Melissa: Papa, what is it? : Crow: irritated People saying "Burn the witch"! Do you have any deductive powers at all? : are singing "Amazing Grace", the second time it's been used in the film. : Servo: along "This song is in/ the public domain/ that's why we used it twice." : has just murdered a police officer with a hay hook, while Melissa tries to comfort her. : Servo Lucinda: I meant to ask him in for pie; I don't know what happened! Video Release * Commercially released on VHS by BBI in November 2001. *Commercially released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment in March 2004 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 5, a 4-DVD set with Boggy Creek II: and the Legend Continues…, Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders and Time Chasers. **The set was re-released in May 2017 by Shout! Factory. ***The DVD features an introduction with Michael J. Nelson recorded especially for this release. *The episode was released as a DVD single in 2011 on the MST3K website. Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 9 Category:1970s movies Category:PG-rated movies Category:Episodes directed by Kevin Murphy Category:Movies with nudity edited out